The past two years have been an exciting time as large and small communities, representing all corners of the country, have worked on developing collaborative planning processes that will address the unique conditions in their region and which will improve the quality of life for the diverse people that live, work and play there.

Reconnecting America and its partners in the newly formed Livability Solutions partnership will be providing technical assistance to communities seeking to implement sustainable and smart growth development programs under a new federal grant.

CNU is seeking submissions for the 2011 Charter Awards, its premier annual juried awards program. The awards recognize outstanding design, development and policy achievements from around the world that embody the principles of the Charter of the New Urbanism and expand our understanding of their role in transforming communities for the better.

The Center for Transit-Oriented Development (CTOD) has released the "Creating Successful Transit Oriented Districts in Los Angeles: A Citywide Toolkit for Achieving Regional Goals" report, which assesses opportunities to improve land use and transportation linkages in communities surrounding 70 existing and planned transit stations in the City of Los Angeles. The report identifies strategies to help communities around transit stations achieve high transit ridership, increase mixed-income and mixed-use housing opportunities and create sustainable neighborhoods while offering its residents a wealth of travel options.

The Federal Transit Administration has unveiled a new Mixed-Income Transit-Oriented Development Action Guide created by the Center for Transit-Oriented Development. The guide comes in the form of a website and is the first "publication" by the FTA to be completely paperless.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan has launched HUD’s new Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities under the management of former Reconnecting America President and CEO Shelley Poticha. He told an audience at the New Partners smart growth conference in Seattle on Feb. 4 that this new office would be the center of HUD’s sustainability efforts, and would work toward connecting housing to jobs, fostering local innovation and building a clean energy economy. The three agencies have not coordinated their policies and funding in the past.

President Obama has proposed $1.82 billion for 27 New Starts/Small Starts transit projects in his FY 2011 budget, including 10 new projects, nine that had previously been recommended for funding and eight projects already under construction. Winners of new Full Funding Grant Agreements include two bus rapid transit projects in Oakland and Connecticut, San Francisco’s Central Subway, rail projects in Honolulu and the Twin Cities and two lines in Denver.